Nowadays, it is quite common for users of motor vehicles to have mobile computing and telephony devices with them. For safety reasons, it is not recommended, or indeed legal, in many countries, to hold a mobile device whilst driving. In certain industries, however, in particular in delivery and logistics, it is often important for drivers to continuously use a mobile computing device. For example, a delivery driver may be issued with a personal, portable computing device that he or she uses as: a satellite navigation and positioning system (for plotting routes between delivery destinations and for relaying instantaneous tracking data to the depot); a package barcode scanner and inventory device; a point of delivery signature recorder, etc. Such devices often need to be dashboard-mountable so that the driver of the vehicle can easily view his or her itinerary, view messages from the depot, and utilize the satellite navigation interface of the device whilst on the move.
Many portable computing devices, such as those used by delivery drivers, can be quite heavy, so a mount for it needs to be robustly manufactured and securely affixable to the dashboard or other interior surface of a vehicle.
Known solutions to the problem of mounting handheld computing devices include:
Suction-cup type mounts, that comprise a suction cup that can be used to secure a device cradle to a surface of the vehicle. These devices need to be secured to flat surfaces, so cannot often be secured to dashboards and other surfaces having, cloth, leather, textured or decorative finishes. To overcome this, the suction cup can be affixed to the vehicle's windscreen, but this can obscure the driver's view of the road, which is undesirable.
An alternative device comprises a device cradle that is screwed to a surface of the vehicle. Whilst providing a secure location for the device, this solution suffers the disadvantage of damaging the vehicle's interior, which can be unsightly and/or reduce the vehicle's re-sale value. Moreover, if different drivers utilize different devices, it can be difficult to swap the mount for one of an appropriate type.
Other device mounts comprise cradles that clip to the louvres of the dashboard vents, but these mounts have a tendency to move with the louvres, and can damage the louvres. Also, because the louvres are not intended to be structural components they can easily break under the weight of the device, especially as the vehicle traverses bumps etc. in the road. Examples of mounts that clip to vents are well known, such as those disclosed in published patent document numbers: US 2005/0236541, U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,124, US 2009/0072106, U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,872, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,724 and CN 101633341.
Other devices, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,733, US 2010/0090076 and DE 202004018904, and so on, teach ways of attaching devices to other parts of a vehicle's interior, such as its headrest posts, cigarette lighter socket etc. Whilst these devices may be satisfactory in certain situations, they do not readily place the device within eyesight of the driver under normal driving conditions.